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Archive for the tag “broth”

As part of my never ending quest to save money and not throw out anything that can still be used, I started making vegetable stock about a year ago. I use it to replace any kind of stock or broth in recipes. It’s also completely free of fat and salt. As a bonus, the leftovers are great for composting.

Ingredients

Vegetable scraps

Water

Yep, that’s it. Just leftover vegetables (and occasionally fruits) and water. Whenever I peel vegetables, cut the ends off vegetables, etc. I put what won’t go in the recipe into a quart sized freezer bag and store it in the freezer.

Frozen vegetable scraps.

When the bag is full, I put all the scraps into a pot with 2 1/2-3 cups of water and simmer it over low heat. The amount of water depends on how full your bag is. There should be enough water to cover all the scraps but they shouldn’t be swimming. You’re making stock, not soup. Cook everything down for about an hour or until the vegetables are all soft. You can do this in a rice cooker, but I recommend using the cook top.

Simmering vegetable stock.

After your stock has cooked down, drain the vegetables over a bowl. Let them drain until the stock has cooled enough to handle and most of the liquid has drained into the bowl.

Draining vegetable stock.

If you want to avoid any sediment in your stock, line the strainer with cheese cloth or something similar. Once it’s cooled, set the strainer aside and pour your vegetable stock into freezer bags and save in the fridge for up to a week, or store for up to three months in the freezer.

Note: I also add apple peels and cores, pear cores, and sometimes melon rind. If you add apple cores to yours, remember that apple seeds contain trace amounts of arsenic, so you might want to remove the seeds first. You might be okay adding other fruit peels (not bananas) but I have not tried it and can’t say for sure if it would work. If you want a meatier flavor you can add dried mushrooms or sun-dried tomatoes.